Asbestos and asbestos-related disease: the South African case

The asbestos industry in South Africa has suffered a decline in production, employment, and sales over the last few years. This mirrors the state of the industry internationally. In South Africa this has more to do with the economic recession than with legislative restrictions on asbestos use. New information has become available on the extent of asbestos-related diseases in South Africa. In this article, we outline developments in labor organization in the asbestos industry, and discuss the marked lack of control of asbestos, the inadequate state compensation system, and the difficulties facing labor. After describing recent improvements won by trade unions, mainly in the transnational corporation sector, we discuss the implications for industry, labor, and control of the asbestos hazard.